West of the Pesos
Encyclopedia
West of the Pesos is a Merrie Melodies
cartoon animated short starring Speedy Gonzales
and Sylvester
. Released January 23, 1960, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson
. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc
.
The mayor of the village attempts to recruit volunteers to help rescue their villagers, but realize the situation is hopeless because Sylvester is too fast and smart for them. Then, one of the mice suggests calling on Speedy Gonzales to help with the rescue effort. After realizing that he is on vacation in Guadalajara
, another mouse comments that Speedy "would come all the way from Guadalajara to visit my seester Carmella." With that, Carmella is recruited to place a long-distance call to Speedy; seconds after the call is placed, Speedy races to the village to begin the rescue effort.
Speedy walks into the patio to great fanfare, much like a bullfighter before his fight, drawing Sylvester's attention. The mouse directly taunts the "gringo pussy gato," and Sylvester — perhaps thinking Speedy is the latest attempted would-be rescuer in an apparent long line of hapless victims — sarcastically obliges. Speedy instantly races past Sylvester and rescues Manuelito; the cat's attempt to snare them in a rope trap fails, as Speedy's quick pace pulls Sylvester through the knothole of the wall he is hiding behind.
Sylvester's other encounters with Speedy include:
In the closing scene, Speedy is hailed as a hero and gets a big kiss from Carmella. Speedy goes wild and blasts into outer space. The other mice laugh, commenting that he is now a "loco satellite."
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
cartoon animated short starring Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated caricature of a mouse in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast and speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent...
and Sylvester
Sylvester (Looney Tunes)
Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester, is a fictional character, a three-time Academy Award-winning anthropomorphic Tuxedo cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper...
. Released January 23, 1960, the cartoon is directed by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
. The voices were performed by Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
.
Plot
At the ACME Laboratorio por Experimento, captured mice are imprisoned in cages, worrying about their fates in scientific experiments. As the mice engage in various activities such as card games and playing the harmonica, Sylvester marches outside as the guard cat, discouraging any mouse that would dare escape. In the village, the señorita mice are crying about family members and boyfriends having gone missing (the name of one of the missing mice also happens to be that of one of the animators, Manuel Perez---although not an animator on this short).The mayor of the village attempts to recruit volunteers to help rescue their villagers, but realize the situation is hopeless because Sylvester is too fast and smart for them. Then, one of the mice suggests calling on Speedy Gonzales to help with the rescue effort. After realizing that he is on vacation in Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, another mouse comments that Speedy "would come all the way from Guadalajara to visit my seester Carmella." With that, Carmella is recruited to place a long-distance call to Speedy; seconds after the call is placed, Speedy races to the village to begin the rescue effort.
Speedy walks into the patio to great fanfare, much like a bullfighter before his fight, drawing Sylvester's attention. The mouse directly taunts the "gringo pussy gato," and Sylvester — perhaps thinking Speedy is the latest attempted would-be rescuer in an apparent long line of hapless victims — sarcastically obliges. Speedy instantly races past Sylvester and rescues Manuelito; the cat's attempt to snare them in a rope trap fails, as Speedy's quick pace pulls Sylvester through the knothole of the wall he is hiding behind.
Sylvester's other encounters with Speedy include:
- The cat's attempt to crush Speedy with a large rock (Speedy yells "Yee-haw!" causing Sylvester to drop the rock on himself). Speedy then smuggles out several more mice in a tin can and hides behind another rock and in between three cans. Sylvester looks under all three cans, the final one concealing a dynamite stick that explodes in his face as the mice make their getaway.
- Speedy sneaking out several more mice using a dachshundDachshundThe dachshund is a short-legged, long-bodied dog breed belonging to the hound family. The standard size dachshund was bred to scent, chase, and flush out badgers and other burrow-dwelling animals, while the miniature dachshund was developed to hunt smaller prey such as rabbits...
costume. One of the mice briefly is separated from the group, but is able to catch up, and Sylvester crashes into the fence. - Speedy using a set of train tracks and cars to bring the rest of the mice home. Sylvester tries to hide behind a tunnel along the tracks, but the train simply goes through the cat's body and exit through his tail. The cat cries in frustration. Here, Speedy refers to the escape as like "Atchison, Tabasco, and Santa Fe", a pun on the song On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa FeOn the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe"On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" is a popular song which refers to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. It was written for the 1946 film, The Harvey Girls, where it was sung by Judy Garland. It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.The music was written by Harry...
.
In the closing scene, Speedy is hailed as a hero and gets a big kiss from Carmella. Speedy goes wild and blasts into outer space. The other mice laugh, commenting that he is now a "loco satellite."